Unsubscribes are a natural part of email marketing. While it might feel discouraging to see someone opt-out, unsubscribes actually play a vital role in keeping your list engaged and protecting your sender reputation. ZooTools is designed to handle unsubscribes automatically and transparently, ensuring your emails only reach those who genuinely want to hear from you.

In this article, we’ll break down the types of unsubscribes ZooTools processes, why they occur, and actionable tips to reduce them.

Types of Unsubscribes in ZooTools

1. Hard Bounce

• What it means: A hard bounce occurs when an email is permanently undeliverable. Common reasons include:

  • Invalid email address
  • Non-existent domain
  • The recipient’s server rejected the email

• How ZooTools handles it:

  When a hard bounce is detected, we automatically unsubscribe the contact and change their status from “subscribed” to “unsubscribed.” This ensures no further emails are sent to that address, protecting your sender reputation.

How to Reduce Hard Bounces:

• Use an email verification tool to validate addresses before adding them to your list.
• Regularly clean your list to remove outdated or inactive emails.
• Avoid buying email lists, as they often include invalid addresses.

2. Header Unsubscribe

• What it means: Email clients like Gmail and Outlook include an “Unsubscribe” button in the email header for user convenience. If a recipient clicks this, it signals that they no longer wish to receive emails.

• How ZooTools handles it:

  We receive the unsubscribe event directly from the email client and update the contact’s status to “unsubscribed” immediately.

How to Reduce Header Unsubscribes:

• Personalize your content to match the recipient's interests.